Archive · 1 Sep 2026
Sony and Warner Sue Anthropic Over AI Music Training
Sony Music and Warner Music are suing Anthropic, the company that makes Claude AI.
They say Anthropic used song lyrics and sheet music without permission to train its AI.
The publishers say some materials came from torrent downloads.
They also claim Claude can repeat copyrighted lyrics exactly when asked.
Sony and Warner say AI-made lyrics could compete with real songs.
Anthropic says AI training can be allowed under fair-use rules.
The company says it will strongly defend itself.
The publishers want money and a court order stopping Anthropic from using their works.
Sony Music and Warner Music sued Anthropic in California federal court over alleged copyright infringement.
The publishers accuse Anthropic of using hundreds of artists’ lyrics and sheet music to train Claude.
The complaint alleges materials were obtained through torrent downloads and that Claude can reproduce lyrics verbatim.
Sony and Warner say AI-generated lyrics could compete with legitimate copyrighted music as market substitutes.
The publishers seek up to $150,000 per infringed copyright and an order barring Anthropic from using their works.
- Who
- Sony Music and Warner Music sued Anthropic.
- What
- They allege Anthropic illegally used copyrighted song lyrics and sheet music to train Claude AI models.
- When
- The complaint was filed on Friday; an Anthropic spokesperson responded on Monday. No calendar date was provided.
- Where
- California federal court.
- Why
- The publishers say Anthropic copied their works without permission, reproduced lyrics, and used them to create competing AI-generated lyrics.
Sony and Warner Music
Anthropic
Use of copyrighted works
Sony and Warner Music
The publishers say Anthropic pirated hundreds of lyrics and musical compositions, including materials obtained through torrent downloads, to train Claude.
Anthropic
Anthropic says AI training makes fair use of copyrighted material and says it will defend itself robustly.
Effect of AI-generated lyrics
Sony and Warner Music
Sony and Warner say Claude can reproduce lyrics verbatim and generate large amounts of lyrics that compete with legitimate copyrighted works.
Anthropic
Anthropic’s spokesperson characterized the lawsuit as recycling allegations from cases already before the courts; the company did not accept the publishers’ claims.
Prior settlement and deterrence
Sony and Warner Music
The publishers argue Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement with authors was not enough to deter alleged infringement and called copyright misuse central to its business model.
Anthropic
Anthropic points to the judge’s fair-use reasoning in the authors’ case while disputing the new allegations.
- Plaintiffs
- Music publishing branches of Sony Music and Warner Music
- Defendant
- Anthropic
- AI system
- Claude
- Works at issue
- Copyrighted song lyrics and sheet music
- Named artists
- The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, and hundreds of other artists
- Requested damages
- Up to $150,000 for each infringed copyright
- Requested injunction
- An order barring Anthropic from using the publishers’ works